ISIL statement expressing support for Qatar in the Gulf crisis is 'apparently fake', says The New York Times.

The New York Times on Sunday debunked information spread by official Saudi media outlets a day earlier claiming Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expressed support for Qatar in the Gulf crisis.

The quartet cut diplomatic ties with Doha on June 5 and imposed an air, sea and land blockade on Qatar - accusing it of supporting Iran and "extremists" in the region.

Qatar strongly denies the allegations.

Marwan Kabalan, director of policy analysis at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said by spreading false news Saudi Arabia may be diverting attention from a story in the US media about the Saudi embassy's possible links to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"This shows that Saudis are doing their best to divert the attention from yesterday's reports by The New York Post and The Independent saying that the Saudi embassy in Washington did in fact have ties to some of the hijackers of the 9/11 attacks," said Kabalan.

The Gulf crisis kicked off in May following the hacking of Qatar News Agency's website, when comments falsely attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani were broadcast by both UAE-based broadcasters Sky News Arabia and Al Arabiya.

The networks went big with the news, inviting guests to dissect and condemn the reported speech.